We will reduce energy by turning off lights when not needed and we will keep room doors closed to conserve energy.

We will switch the monitors off in computers when they are not in use.

We will save water. We will turn off taps when not in use and work on water awareness.

We will try to decrease air and noise pollution in our environment by travelling to school in a ‘greener’ way.

We will increase our awareness of our local environment by tending to our school garden and birdwatching.

We will increase our awareness of global citizenship by working on issues such as fair trade and climate change.

Felix Navidad.

Thank you to all the parents and pupils who encourage recycling and taking care of the environment. Once again we would like to extend our sincere thanks to all the children, parents, teachers and members of the community on our Green School’s Committee. We would like to thank our school secretary Catriona and caretaker Nigel for all their help.

We are on our 17th year of Green School in Bunscoil Bhríde and we are working towards our 9th Green Flag. We have continued working on the eight previous themes of Green School and have begun working on the theme Global Citizenship – Marine Environment. Check out the Green School Website for ideas to work on – www.greenschoolsireland.org

Good news from Rathangan Tidy Towns:

Congratulations on achieving the 8th Green Flag earlier this year, and when raising the flag in June we reminisced on all that had happened in those 16 years since the programme began. 'Do you remember we used to bring in our bottles, cans, newspapers for recycling etc'. Mrs Kelly has been amazing in her dedication, it all doesn't just happen ,we must keep up and maintain each programme on recycling, water, energy, transport, biodiversity, global citizenship. In the Tidy Towns programme there is a big emphasis on biodiversity, pollination, and sustainability, so the two programmes intertwine, eg erecting swift boxes at the Girls School, your raised beds growing vegetables and flowers for pollination are very important.

For Tidy Towns it was a busy year. In June a visit from students from America, later in September a group of Heritage Boats stopped one weekend, and owners were delighted with the programme that was laid on for them. The memorials were upgraded as was the walk on the Pound with new seating added.

Thanks girls for all your help- Elizabeth Birch.

Our new Green School Theme is Global Citizenship –Marine Environment. This theme will help us to think about the 70% of our planet that is covered by oceans and how we can help to protect them. Ireland’s seabed territory is one of the largest in Europe and more than 10 times Ireland’s land mass. That’s a lot of ocean to protect but that is exactly what we need to do. We will be looking at threats to the marine environment with a particular focus on marine litter.

Marine litter is any material that has ended up in the marine environment after being lost or discarded at sea or on land. Approximately 10 million tonnes of litter end up in the world’s oceans and seas each year. What we find on our beaches is not the full extent of the marine litter load on the environment. It is estimated that 70% of marine litter is on is on the seabed, 15% is floating in the water and 15% is what we find on our shores. Marine litter consists of a wide range of materials, including plastic, metal, wood, rubber, glass and papers. However, it is dominated by plastic which accounts for 80% of the items found on beaches. Did you know it is estimated that each year at least 8 million tonnes of plastic leak into our oceans; this is the same as dumping one refuse truck into the ocean every minute. Plastic does not break down fully.

What do you think we can do to minimise the use of plastics in our everyday life? Here are a few suggestions:

Reduce waste by cutting plastic use.

Stop using disposable plastic-if you use it recycle it.

Do not use plastic shopping bags use cloth ones instead.

Do not use straws.

Reuse products – reuse plastic bottles instead of throwing them away.

Check out videos on the Green School Website and You- Tube about the dangers of plastic for our marine environment and how we can help save our planet (eg A Plastic Ocean-video)

Buane Feste Natalizie.

This December we held a poster competition for Junior Infants and Senior Infants based on protecting the Marine Environment and/or Climate Change. Well done and thank you to all the children who took part.

The following children were winners in this area:

Madison Byrne – Ms. Ruttledge - Junior Infants

Maya Casey – Ms Kelly- Junior Infants

Dominika Kurylak – Ms. Kelly- Senior Infants.

Alice Beary – Ms. Rowley -Senior Infants.

This Christmas we also ran a poetry/story competition for children from 1st to 6th class based on protecting our Marine Environment and/or Climate Change. Once again well done and thank you to all the children who took part. Here are our winning entries:

Sealife. - Leah Hancock- 1st Class.

Sea animals are dying from plastic,

Everyone stop throwing plastic in the sea.

Animals are getting hurt,

Less plastic,

I will help too,

Friend please don’t let me down,

Everyone lets go.

Save the Sea Animals-Ailbhe Walford-1st Class

Do not litter, Do not litter!

Rubber and paper is litter,

Litter is in the water, Litter is in the water!

Oil is bad for sea animals,

Fish and dolphins cannot breathe, Fish and dolphins cannot breathe!

Please help me to save the sea.

Save the Ocean - Rebecca Fallon- 2nd Class.

Fish are dying, others are crying,

Litter is turning sea life bitter,

If you litter in the sea it will cause a catastrophe,

Now that the fish are in trouble, they can’t blow their bubbles.

Help Save the Polar Region- Alannah Walford -2nd Class.

Help! Help! Do you hear that? It’s the animals in the polar region,

Let’s think about ways we can help.

Why don’t we walk to school and have showers instead of baths,

Close the fridge and get solar panels.

Instead of using your tumble dryer use your washing line.

Greenhouse gases are damaging our protective blanket,

Help stop the greenhouse gases and animals will shout –HURRAY!!

Climate Change- Gabrielle Kurmauskaite - 3rd Class.

Water helps the planet oh!

But it might take some time to grow,

Sun and rain make rainbows.

That makes the world happy and glow.

Cows and cars let out gas, and that is not healthy for our land.

So start recycling and you can help our planet and make a plan.

Penguins and polar bears need to survive,

Let’s save ice for them to stay alive.

Global Warming- Abbie Hilliard- 3rd Class.

Global warming is not good,

Glaciers are melting and oceans levels are rising but we can stop it by walking, instead of driving and planting more trees and using cold water. The ice where the polar bears live is melting and they’re in danger of extinction.

Some scientists say there will be no more polar bears if global warming is not stopped, but if we try hard enough polar bears might live for longer.

It is better to go on a bus, car pool, cycle or walk even just try!

One Big Battle- Ella Kinsella -4th Class.

2014 was the world’s hottest year.

So we all need to step up a gear,

California is experiencing drought, while the other countries have floods all about.

Farting cattle is one big battle,

But giving then seaweed this might tackle.

People in the world are such fools,

We need to stop burning fossil fools.

Quick before it is too late,

Before we lose all our faith.

I hope that you will all agree,

Or else you might get a big fat fee.

Marine Life in Strife - Leanne Foran.- 4th Class.

If you put litter in the sea instead of a bin,

A sharp piece of tin could get stuck in a fish’s fin.

Most manmade materials do not biodegrade in the sea,

I’m not sure about you but that does not sound good to me.

If you don’t listen closely, there will be a price to pay, I will tell you a couple of reasons how it could affect us today.

You may not be aware, but it’s from under the sea that we get 50% of the oxygen we need,

It is so important that fish stay alive.

Constant threats to plants and marine life could make it so hard for us to survive!

If you’re still not convinced, I will tell you a few more,

So listen carefully and concentrate as there is a lot more in store.

If our water gets polluted, fish could become unsafe to consume,

So if you think there are no consequences that is wrong to assume,

If our water get polluted, they will be unsafe to swim in,

So if I do say so myself, it is not a win win!

We CAN make a big difference in just a short while,

And if I have changed your mind, that makes me smile.

Global Warming- Saoirse Mahon- 5th Class.

The changes to our planet are very alarming,

It’s because of a thing called global warming.

Now global warming is not a nice thing,

We will all have to do something.

Poles are melting from global warming,

This could be our final warning.

We should be the first transforming stupid global warming.

The sea level is rising, the ice caps are shrinking,

Our heads of states need to change their ways of thinking.

Marine Life -Jessie Gorey -6th Class.

Let’s go down, down, down like a 100 foot drop into the Atlantic ocean and see what we’ve got.

Plastic bags are capturing fish, can holders too, dolphins dying in the Atlantic, I think I should help can you?

Stop dumping your waste in to the sea, where you think people can’t see, but you’ll get caught eventually.

But let’s look at the bright side of this, just think of all the happy fish.

Swimming in the sea and all the crisp seaweed dancing in the sea breeze.

Enjoy the ocean while you can because it could be gone tomorrow- ALL BECAUSE OF MAN!!!

Nollaig Shona Duit.

Don’t forget we collect stamps and Christmas cards in the school for recycling.